A passenger train travels through snowy Siberia. A man opens a door and enters one of the passenger cars, closes the door behind him, and looks around cautiously. He carries a newspaper wrapped around something as he walks down the aisle. As he passes a couple of old men playing chess, a bishop piece gets knocked over into the aisle. The man kneels down and picks up the piece for the old man.

OLD MAN: Thank you, sir.

The man studies the chess board for a moment before getting up.

MAN: Just a suggestion.

The old man looks curiously at his helper.

MAN: Try… Knight to C-5.

The old man looks back at the chess board and tries the move.

OLD MAN: You are right.

The man looks pleased and moves on, continuing down the aisle. As he leaves, we see that he has left a device under one of the seats. The row of lights on the device increase with each second. The man enters the next car and closes the door. He takes a seat and begins reading the newspaper. He checks his watch.

At that moment, in the previous car, the old man is about to win the chess game.

OLD MAN: Checkmate.

A bright light flashes inside the car. The man walks back into the previous car. The car is not damaged, but charred bodies are all that remain of the passengers inside. The man retrieves his device and leaves.

(INT. LOS ANGELES – NIGHT)

RACHEL: Did you crack Dean’s encryption?

MARSHALL: Well, I was working on it, but… I got a little sidetracked. I intercepted a string of MI-6 transmissions. They’re all about the testing and sale of a prototype MPB.

DIXON: There was an incident aboard a train in Siberia two days ago. Information’s leaking out slowly, but –

TOM: You think that’s the test…? There’s no way the Brits are pursing an MPB. That breaks every arms treaty known to man.

RACHEL: Well, have you notified the Director General?

DIXON: Until we know who we can trust, we can’t approach MI-6 officially. Jack and Sydney are in England trying to find out more. In the meantime, we’re going to go over every single transmission Marshall pulled off the server to see if we missed something. I’m working on these.

RACHEL: Okay.

TOM: I’ll take these.

Each member takes a stack of file folders to analyze.

YORKSHIRE

(EXT. AN ENGLISH MANOR - DAY)

At an outdoor party, Sydney sits a table outside and has tea with an older woman.

WOMAN: You should see my youngest grandchild Daisy – four years old and already a master of the computer.

Sydney feigns amazement.

WOMAN: Have you chosen a name? I myself have always been partial to “Rupert” – such a distinguished name.

Sydney scans the party attendees and watches a blonde woman, Elizabeth Powell. Jack is also at the party, chatting with someone. He seems to nod to Sydney.

WOMAN: A shame it fallen out of favor. Wouldn’t you agree, dear?

SYDNEY: Rupert – it’s classic.

JACK: Will you excuse me?

SYDNEY: Can’t seem to get enough of that Devonshire clotted cream. We don’t have it in the States. If you’ll just pardon me…?

WOMAN: Yes, of course.

SYDNEY: Thank you.

Elizabeth Powell is getting pastries at one of the tables as she talks to someone.

ELIZABETH: I prefer the cinnamon, but the blackberry is also very good.

Elizabeth turns around just as Sydney walks up.

SYDNEY: Excuse me, ma’am. You forgot a napkin.

Sydney hands Elizabeth a napkin.

ELIZABETH: Oh, thank you.

SYDNEY: You’re welcome.

The woman reads the note on the napkin and turns back to look at Sydney.

Inside the house, Jack Bristow idly plays a few notes as he stands and waits by the piano. Elizabeth Powell walks into the room.

ELIZABETH: Do you still play?

JACK: No, gave it up years ago.

Jack pulls off his glasses.

ELIZABETH: You shouldn’t have approached me here.

JACK: I take it Joseph still doesn’t know what you do for a living.

The woman raises her eyebrows.

ELIZABETH: How would it look for the French Ambassador to have a spook for a wife? Besides, this is where I get my best intelligence.

JACK: I already talked with the Minister of Finance. He’s a dimwit.

ELIZABETH: What’s this about, Jack?

JACK: We believe someone operating within MI-6 is attempting to acquire a micropulse bomb.

ELIZABETH: Well, that’s outrageous. MI-6 would never sanction it.

JACK: I agree. More likely, whoever it is represents some corrupt element.

ELIZABETH: Are you suggesting we have a double agent?

JACK: Yes, but it goes much deeper than that. Have you ever heard of Prophet Five?

Outside, Joseph Vachon, the French Ambassador, looks for his wife.

JOSEPH: Have you seen Elizabeth?

MAN: No. Sorry.

SYDNEY: (using a Southern accent) Excuse me! Pardonnez-moi. Are you Joseph Vachon, the French Ambassador?

JOSEPH: Why, yes, I am.

SYDNEY: I knew it! Hey, I’ve been taking French classes at night, (nodding to her belly) ‘cause little ones are supposed to pick up so quickly, you know?

Joseph slowly nods.

SYDNEY: I was just wondering if I could just practice a little bit on you.

Joseph looks around uncomfortably, but agrees.

JOSEPH: I suppose so, yeah.

SYDNEY: Great. Okay. All right.

Sydney closes her eyes and breathes. She proceeds to speak in a very heavily-accented French.

SYDNEY: Quand votre famille… part en vacances, qu'est-ce que vous préférez? Une plage de soleil… ou de montagnes glacés? [When your family goes… on vacation, what do you prefer? The sunny beach… or the frozen mountains?]

AMBASSADOR: Très bien! Mm-hmm. [Very Good.]

SYDNEY: (excited) Très bien! Great. Okay. Um…

Sydney continues her diversion as Jack continues to explain the situation to Elizabeth.

JACK: The network behind Prophet Five is far-reaching. They appear to have infiltrated multiple intelligence agencies, not just MI-6.

ELIZABETH: And you think that following this weapon will give us the key to finding out more? You want me to investigate my agency from the inside?

JACK: I wouldn’t be coming to you if it didn’t also involve Sydney.

ELIZABETH: Sydney? Is she all right?

JACK: She’s fine. You just met her, in fact.

ELIZABETH: Oh, my goodness. (smiles) It has been a long time. And unless she’s wearing a very convincing disguise…

JACK: I’m going to be a grandfather – a very young grandfather.

ELIZABETH: Jack… she’s lovely.

JACK: She is. The agent I told you about, Michael Vaughn – he was her fiancé.

JACK: My source got back to me. She confirmed what we suspected – the acquisition of the MPB weapon is strictly off-book. MI-6 has not sanctioned it.

TOM: Could she identify the double agent?

JACK: No, but she was able to identify the engineer who designed the weapon – this man, Lukas Basarov.

A profile of Basarov is shown on the screen. He is the man who set off the device on the train in Siberia.

JACK: Tenured faculty, University of St. Petersburg. Holds advanced degrees in physics and thermonuclear engineering.

DIXON: Apparently, he has a side business.

JACK: Basarov is currently en route to a conference being held in São Paulo, Brazil. He’s scheduled to give a talk on theoretical microdynamics.

MARSHALL: Wow. Sounds awesome.

Everyone looks sat Marshall questioningly.

MARSHALL: Well, Brazil. Isn’t that, you know, the place where they have the um, string – you know, what are they called? Not bikinis, but, um…

JACK: Thongs.

MARSHALL: Yes.

JACK: My source found evidence which indicates that within approximately 48 hours, Basarov will receive a transmission regarding where and when the sale is taking place. We can presume he’ll be receiving this one at the conference via his laptop.

MARSHALL: (eagerly) Well, that’s easy. We just access the laptop, upload the bugging software – piece of cake. I could definitely do it!

JACK: You need to be here to decrypt the transmission.

Marshall’s face falls.

JACK: Rachel’s perfectly equipped to do the work in the field. Wheels up in two hours.

Marshall is still clearly disappointed when he leaves the table. Rachel begins packing for her mission. Sydney comes to see how she’s doing.

Rachel walks into a hotel wearing glasses and a dress with a matching blazer. She wheels her luggage to the front desk.

RACHEL: (using a British accent) Hi, I’m checking in. Lydia Sand.

CLERK: The room you requested is available. I see you’re here for the conference?

RACHEL: Yes.

CLERK: Let me get your information packet.

Behind Rachel, another guest is making a commotion with another hotel clerk.

MAN: I don’t care what sort of geek conference you have here! I was told an upgrade wouldn’t be a problem.

RACHEL: (sighs and rolls her eyes to the clerk) Americans.

Rachel gets into the elevator to go to her hotel room. Just as the doors are about to close, someone jams their briefcase into the door, forcing the doors open again. It is the rude American hotel guest, Mr. Sark. He gets on the elevator. On their way up, Sark looks over at Rachel and notices her name tag.

SARK: (still using an American accent) So Lydia, you here on business?

RACHEL: (still using a British accent) Yes. The geek conference.

SARK: You heard that, huh?

RACHEL: I did.

The elevator doors open. Rachel steps out and goes to her hotel room. Sark follows behind her. Rachel finds her hotel room – and Sark’s room is right across from hers.

SARK: What are the odds, huh?

They open their doors and go inside their respective rooms. Rachel opens her luggage and takes out her op-tech. She drills a hole into the wall and feeds a fiber optic camera into the hole. She monitors Basarov’s room. Meanwhile, Sark is preparing in his room.

SARK: I’m in place. Yes, I’m looking at him right now. I’ll have the details of the trade by tomorrow. Don’t worry, Benjamin. For what you’re paying me, I won’t let anything stand in my way.

< ALIAS – Title Sequence >

Lukas Basarov comes down the stairs of the hotel with a colleague. Rachel has been waiting in the lobby and approaches him.

RACHEL: Dr. Basarov? Hi. Sorry to interrupt. I was just reading your article, and well, I was wondering – would you mind signing it?

Basarov smiles and takes the journal from Rachel.

BASAROV: (to his colleague) Look. I have – what do you call them? Groupie.

RACHEL: Hmm. Thank you.

BASAROV: You’re welcome.

Basarov and his colleague continue on. Back in her hotel room, Rachel scans the back of the journal she asked Basarov to sign. She lifts his fingerprints from the scan and creates a duplicate fingerprint tip.

In his room, Sark is calling for room service.

SARK: I would like the shrimp stew, the pork and beef skewers, and also the tomato salad. I’m trying to lay off the carbs.

Sark looks on his monitor and sees that Basarov is about to get into the shower.

SARK: Get it here in ten minutes, and I’ll triple the gratuity.

Rachel cautiously steps out of her hotel room and walks next door to Basarov’s room. She inserts a device into his room’s door lock, which decrypts the lock sequence and opens the door. She slips into the room and closes the door behind her. Basarov is in the shower. Rachel puts the device into her inside jacket pocket. She quickly moves to Basarov’s laptop and boots it up. She takes out her duplicate fingerprint, but suddenly, there is a knock on the door.

SARK: Room service.

Rachel quickly closes the laptop and hides. Sark opens the door and wheels in the cart of food he had ordered. He goes to the laptop, finds an access keycard on the table, and sprays something on the card. Rachel is hiding outside on a ledge next to the window, pressed tightly against the wall with her eyes closed.

Sark puts his fake fingerprint into the biometric scanner. He inserts a PC card into the laptop and uploads a program onto Basarov’s laptop. After the upload is compete, Sark removes the PC card, closes the laptop, and leaves the room.

Finally, Rachel is able to get back into the room. She breathes a sigh of relief. She hears Basarov get out of the shower. She hesitates, but decides to finish the job. She moves quickly to the laptop, inserts the USB drive with Marshall’s program, and scans her fake fingerprint. She quickly uploads Marshall’s program and leaves, just as Basarov comes out of the bathroom and finds the cart of food. He checks it out, interested.

Rachel quickly goes back into her room and closes the door behind her. She stands in front of the door for a moment to calm down.

(INT. APO – DAY)

A phone rings. Tom Grace answers.

TOM: Agent Grace.

RACHEL: Hi. It’s me.

TOM: How’d it go?

RACHEL: It went fine – Great.

TOM: Good. I’ll notify Jack and Marshall.

RACHEL: So… uh, what do I do now?

TOM: Keep your PDA with you. It’ll alert you as soon as it intercepts Basarov’s transmission. Then go ahead and send it to Marshall. Till then, it looks like you got the night off. Just relax.

RACHEL: All right.

Rachel is enjoying a martini in the hotel restaurant at the bar. Sark arrives at the bar a few seats down from her.

SARK: Lydia?

Rachel looks over warily.

SARK: Right? I’m sorry about the crack I made earlier. Twelve hours on a plane next to a screaming toddler. You know how that can be. Of course, that’s no excuse.

RACHEL: No. It’s just, you know, tough day. Sometimes at these work events, I feel like I’m in over my head. I just started in a new division. It’s a lot more responsibilities, more risks.

SARK: Sounds like you need to rethink your perspective a little bit.

Sark moves over a couple of seats and sits next to Rachel.

SARK: Anything in life worth doing has an element of risk. It’s what makes life interesting.

RACHEL: I can definitely say my life has been interesting lately. And I did manage to do what I came here for, so…

SARK: Well, then good for you. As you say, cheers.

RACHEL: Cheers.

They clink glasses.

RACHEL: So, Bob, you here on business as well?

SARK: Yep. I’m in international trade.

RACHEL: What do you trade?

SARK: Whatever my clients pay me to trade.

RACHEL: Do you like it?

SARK: Hell, yeah. I work freelance, so I get to travel, meet all sorts of fascinating people – present company included. Last year, I tried something a little different – something more conventional, stable.

RACHEL: How’d that work out?

SARK: It didn’t. I was terrible at it. I was so bored that I wanted to blow my brains out. So I decided to take less drastic measures and do something I know best.

RACHEL: I just moved. Left my entire life behind, actually.

SARK: Well, new starts are good, right?

RACHEL: And the new people I work with are great.

SARK: You don’t sound too convinced.

RACHEL: No, they are. That’s part of the problem. They’re so good at what they do. I mean, there’s this one woman – she’s amazing, and she’s about to have a baby. I’m not sure I could manage work and a goldfish.

SARK: Well, aquariums are overrated. Remember that.

RACHEL: Okay. (laughs)

SARK: You want another one?

RACHEL: I would love one.

SARK: Okay.

Later, the two walk back to their respective hotel rooms.

RACHEL: So, um… thank you for keeping me company.

SARK: It was my pleasure.

They stand in the hallway for a moment before Sark gives Rachel a brief kiss.

RACHEL: Good night.

SARK: Good night.

Sark seems to step back slightly, but they both move in for longer, lingering kiss.

SARK: Do you have your key?

RACHEL: Oh, no, we can’t go in my room. There are clothes all over the place. Can’t we go to yours?

Sark hesitates.

RACHEL: Please?

SARK: Uh…

RACHEL: (whispering in Sark’s ear) Please.

Sark kisses Rachel.

SARK: What the hell.

Sark unlocks the door. The two step inside, still kissing as they make their way to the bed.

SARK: Well, I appreciate you making the exception. You should know that gorgeous engineers have a way of throwing themselves at me, so…

RACHEL: I did not throw myself at you.

SARK: Okay, okay. If that’s what you need to believe.

Rachel leans in for a kiss.

SARK: Want something to drink?

RACHEL: Yes, that’d be lovely.

SARK: Okay.

Sark kisses Rachel again before getting out of bed. After he leaves, Rachel moves over to the nightstand and looks at Sark’s passport. It bears the name he gave as his alias, Bob Brown, and lists his date of birth as April 15, 1968 and birthplace in Chicago. She opens the airline ticket envelope and finds a ticket going to Nassau, Bahamas. Suddenly, her cell phone rings from her purse. She quickly gets out of bed. Sark returns to the room after a bit.

SARK: We’re in the tropics, so how about some rum?

He is surprised to see that Rachel has already gathered her belongings and is dressed and ready to leave.

SYDNEY: (comms) Dad, those are not MI-6 agents. Repeat – those are not MI-6 agents. That is Benjamin Masari.

MARSHALL: Wait a minute. Who’s Masari?

TOM: Sudanese head of the RLF – terrorist squad responsible for bombing Western targets in Africa.

JACK: This is an ambush.

The men open fire on Basarov and his assistant.

ELIZABETH: The bomb!

Elizabeth quickly moves to load her weapon. They hear a noise close by. Suddenly, Sydney’s video feed turns to static. Another team of men have found Jack and Elizabeth.

SYDNEY: Dad, can you hear me?

MARSHALL: It’s no good, Syd. They’re jamming our signal.

SYDNEY: Oh, God. Dad. Dad, do you copy? Dad, can you hear me?

The APO team scrambles to figure out what happened.

TOM: I want intel from anybody who’s ever done business with Masari. I don’t care if they crossed the street next to him… find out what they know.

DIXON: (walking up to Marshall) Anything yet?

MARSHALL: Well, I’m indexing passenger manifests to and from Malaga. So far, nothing.

DIXON: Find something.

Dixon walks down the hallway, where Rachel briefs him on what she’s found.

RACHEL: The head of Interpol is on the line.

DIXON: Any trace from the signal?

RACHEL: No. They must have disabled the tracker.

DIXON: I want everything we have on the RLF.

RACHEL: Right away.

Arvin Sloane quickly walks straight to Sydney Bristow’s office.

SLOANE: I came as soon as I heard.

SYDNEY: I’m sorry to pull you away from Nadia.

SLOANE: How did it happen?

SYDNEY: They were surveilling a weapons trade. An MPB was supposed to be delivered to a double agent within MI-6. Masari and his men showed up instead. I’ve been reviewing the footage.

SLOANE: What time was the meet set?

SYDNEY: 2:30 am, local time.

SLOANE: Masari and his men?

SYDNEY: Showed up at 2:17.

SLOANE: The double agent never had a chance. They beat him to it.

SYDNEY: You think it’s unrelated?

SLOANE: Micropulse bomb – it’s the kind of weapon that would be coveted by most criminal organizations. Masari must have found out.

SYDNEY: How?

SLOANE: How did you get your intel, Sydney?

SYDNEY: Rachel intercepted a transmission.

SLOANE: Well, maybe she wasn’t the only one.

SYDNEY: Someone else was in that hotel.

Sloane finds a familiar face from the video surveillance at the São Paulo hotel. He displays a photo of Sark on the screen.

SLOANE: Say hello to an old friend – Julian Sark.

Rachel recognizes Sark immediately and looks worried.

SLOANE: Footage places him at the hotel in São Paulo at the same time that Rachel intercepted the message, which makes it likely that he did the same.

DIXON: I thought he was out of the game.

MARSHALL: Apparently not.

DIXON: He must have been working for Masari. He was probably paid for the information.

TOM: Who is this guy?

SYDNEY: Kidnapper, extortionist, murder, the list goes on. Formerly tied to SD-6 and the Covenant. He mostly works for himself.

RACHEL: (softly) Freelance.

Rachel looks over at Sydney, who realizes something is up.

CUT TO Rachel meeting with Sydney privately to discuss Rachel’s run-in with Sark in São Paulo.

RACHEL: I had no idea. I will do anything.

SYDNEY: I have to ask – did he use you for information?

RACHEL: No. There’s no way. We were never in my room. He never even had access to the transmission.

Sydney nods.

RACHEL: I can find him.

SYDNEY: He’s probably halfway around the world by now.

RACHEL: No, when I was in his room, I saw a plane ticket. He’s going to the Bahamas.

NASSAU

(EXT NASSAU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – DAY)

As Sark leaves the airport, he finds Rachel waiting for him.

SARK: (using an American accent) Lydia.

RACHEL: (using her normal accent) How nice. You remembered my name.

Sydney walks up to the two.

SYDNEY: Do you remember me?

SARK: (dropping his American accent) Sydney. I suppose a congratulations is in order.

Sydney gives Sark a wry smile.

SARK: I’m warning you, if you’re planning on arresting me, I’m not gonna make it easy on you.

SYDNEY: My father and another agent have been taken captive by Benjamin Masari. We need to find his base of operations.

SARK: My clients pay handsomely for their privacy. It would be unprofessional of me to give that information to you.

SYDNEY: Which is why we aren’t here to arrest you. We’re here to hire you.

Sark nods.

TUNISIA

(INT. MASARI’S COMPOUND – DAY)

Jack and Elizabeth are being held in a room inside Masari’s bunker-like compound. Benjamin Masari pays them a visit.

JACK: I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten about us.

MASARI: I imagine for you this cell seems somewhat inhuman. You Westerners, so accustomed to your indulgences.

JACK: Why are we here?

MASARI: You were transmitting a video feed when you were found. Where was it going?

Elizabeth and Jack are silent for a moment, but Elizabeth decides to boldly answer.

ELIZABETH: Holiday photos. Costa del Sol in winter. As you say, we do like our little indulgences.

Masari motions for a guard to take Elizabeth.

JACK: Do not touch her!

The guards pick her up and put her elbows down on the low table in the room, forcing her hands down flat on the table.

MASARI: If you want to spare her, answer me!

Masari cocks his gun and points it at Elizabeth’s hand.

MASARI: Where was the transmission going?

Elizabeth shakes her head at Jack.

JACK: Take me.

ELIZABETH: I’m not easily frightened.

MASARI: You should be.

Masari shoots Elizabeth through her left hand. She screams in pain and falls backwards away from the table. Despite his handcuffs, Jack delivers hard blows to two guards. Eventually, the guards force Jack back down and hold a gun to him.

MASARI: The right one.

The guards force Elizabeth back to the table, with her right hand pressed down on the table this time.

MASARI: If you want to spare her, answer me.

Masari cocks his gun.

MASARI: Perhaps we should try this again. Who do you work for?

JACK: Wait.

ELIZABETH: Don’t tell him!

MASARI: Clearly, you don’t work with your hands, huh?

Elizabeth looks at Masari with desperation. A guard interrupts, whispers something to Masari, and hands him a phone. Masari leaves the room to take the call. The guards release Elizabeth momentarily.

MASARI: I appreciate the information. You’ve saved me some time and a few bullets.

SARK: Perhaps I could do more. I have a proposition.

MASARI: Always the businessman.

SARK: Well, those agents you’ve kidnapped are quite valuable. I know some people that would pay an exorbitant amount of money to get their hands on them.

MASARI: Best kill them and be done with it.

Sloane presses a button and mutes the phone.

SLOANE: Do whatever it takes.

SARK: Benjamin, you have many enemies. Given what I know, I imagine I could broker a pretty lucrative deal for myself.

Masari looks incredulous at Sark’s audacity.

MASARI: Are you threatening me?

SARK: As you said, I’m simply a businessman. When opportunity knocks…

MASARI: I’ll expect you within the next 24 hours.

SARK: Where should we make the exchange?

MASARI: Tunisia. My compound.

(INT. APO – DAY)

Dixon and Sydney discuss using Sark to get Jack and Elizabeth back from Masari.

DIXON: Can we trust him?

SYDNEY: He is telling the truth. I’ll arrange for transport.

DIXON: Sydney, getting your father from Masari... we need to go in tactically.

SYDNEY: How am I supposed to sit here and do nothing? It’s my dad.

DIXON: We both know he wouldn’t want you to go.

SYDNEY: I can’t lose him.

DIXON: You won’t.

(EXT. TUNISIA – DAY)

Dixon is driving a truck with Tom in the passenger seat. Inside the back, Rachel briefs Sark. She hands him a watch.

SARK: A gift?

RACHEL: A locator. We need to know exactly where Masari’s holding them. We can’t risk tipping him off.

SARK: You haven’t done this before, have you?

Rachel gives Sark a look.

SARK: Look, I imagine you feel somewhat to blame for all this, but you’re not. I’m very good at what I do.

RACHEL: When you’re with them, press the winding stem on the watch. We’ll do the rest.

SARK: I must admit, you’re quite fetching in black.

RACHEL: I will gag you.

The truck stops. Tom gets out and walks toward the back of the truck.

SARK: Does this mean we can’t be friends?

Tom lowers the tailgate of the truck.

TOM: Time to switch.

RACHEL: Thank God.

Rachel quickly gets out of the truck. Sark pauses for a moment and follows Rachel out of the truck.

(INT. APO – DAY)

Sydney hangs up the phone.

MARSHALL: (walking by in the hallway) Hey, heard the phone ring.

SYDNEY: Wasn’t them.

Marshall walks into Sydney’s office.

MARSHALL: Um, you want some company? You know, while we wait?

SYDNEY: I’d like that.

(EXT. MASARI’S COMPOUND – DAY)

Dixon drives into the compound, with Sark in the passenger seat. The engine compartment of the truck is smoking as Dixon pulls to a stop. Sark steps out of the truck holding a briefcase, as Masari’s guards walk up to the truck to make sure everything is safe.

SARK: Masari’s expecting me.

Dixon steps out of the truck. One guard goes to the back of the truck and opens the tailgate. The back of the truck is empty. The guards pat down Sark and Dixon. Rachel and Tom are hanging to the underside the truck, hidden from view.

GUARD: (to Sark) I’m sure Colonel Masari will be very pleased to see you.

SARK: (to Dixon) If you expect to be paid have this wreck fixed before I’m done with my business.

DIXON: (speaking Arabic) He still thinks he’s living in the colony.

The guard chuckles. Dixon opens the hood of the truck to check the engine. Another guard leads Sark into the compound. Inside, Sark is taken to Masari’s office.

MASARI: How was the trip?

SARK: Exhausting, as usual. Have you ever thought about moving somewhere more accessible?

MASARI: Remoteness is a virtue.

SARK: Yes, and it’s also time-consuming. So I’m afraid we’re gonna have to cut this visit short.

Sark opens the briefcase and shows Masari the money inside. Masari takes a stack of money and flips through it.

SARK: If you could take me to the prisoners, I can be on my way.

MASARI: Why the rush?

SARK: I need to be in Tunis by nightfall.

MASARI: I’m afraid that, uh…

Masari cocks his gun and points it at Sark.

MASARI: ...won’t be possible.

Outside, Dixon tries to get some help from a guard to repair the truck.

DIXON: Can I get some water? It’s overheated.

GUARD: I can’t leave my post.

The guard’s walkie talkie beeps. He answers it.

GUARD: Of course. Right away.

As the guard reaches for his weapon, Dixon pulls a gun out of the engine bay and shoots the guard in the leg, who falls to the ground. Tom and Rachel roll out from under the truck. They approach the downed guard with their guns drawn.

DIXON: (holding a gun to the guard) Where are the prisoners?

Dixon and the team approach the door to Masari’s compound.

DIXON: I need help!

When the guard inside opens the door to respond, Dixon quickly shoots him.

DIXON: (to Rachel) Cover the entrance. (to Tom) Come on!

Tom and Dixon approach a short hallway where three of Masari’s men are guarding the prisoners’ room. At the corner, Tom throws a flashbang grenade toward the guards, stunning them and allowing Tom and Dixon to take the guards out. Tom opens the door and finds Jack and a wounded Elizabeth.

JACK: She needs medical attention.

TOM: You don’t look so good yourself. (to Elizabeth) You okay?

ELIZABETH: Yeah.

DIXON: An extraction team is standing by. I’ll call for them.

RACHEL: Yeah.

TOM: We’ve got them.

RACHEL: And Masari?

TOM: He and Sark are still missing.

Rachel draws her gun and goes to look for them. She opens the door to Masari’s office and finds something beeping. She calls APO.

SYDNEY: Yeah.

RACHEL: Sydney, it’s me.

SYDNEY: Oh, thank God. How’s my father?

RACHEL: He’s alive, but we’ve got another problem.

Rachel has found Sark handcuffed to the MPB. The timer on the bomb is at 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

SYDNEY: Can we evacuate?

MARSHALL: No. There’s not enough time. They won’t get very far.

SYDNEY: Rachel, we’re gonna talk you through this.

Rachel walks up to the bomb. Sark looks up at her dubiously.

MARSHALL: Okay, Rachel, there should be a front panel. Do you see that?

RACHEL: Uh… (examining the bomb) Yeah. It’s screwed in.

Sark continues to try to undo his handcuffs.

MARSHALL: Great. Just unscrew it.

RACHEL: Unscrew it? With what?

SARK: Might I suggest something sharp?

RACHEL: Hold on.

Rachel looks around and find a letter opener on Masari’s desk.

RACHEL: Here.

Rachel uses the letter opener to unscrew the panel.

RACHEL: (to Sark) So what happened?

SARK: I underestimated my friendship with Masari. He assumed I was betraying him, and he took the money and he left.

RACHEL: Oh. So then he knows you pretty well.

SARK: Mmm.

Rachel lifts the panel off. A control board with wires slides out from the side of the device.

RACHEL: Okay, I unscrewed the front panel. Now what?

MARSHALL: Okay. If this bomb works on microwave energy, it should have a coaxial capacitor bank. Do you see that?

RACHEL: Uh, maybe. I don’t know.

SYDNEY: It should be attached to a power source.

RACHEL: Okay, I found it.

MARSHALL: Okay, great. You need to jam the pulse.

RACHEL: How?

MARSHALL: Reroute the wires to a neutral bank.

Rachel disconnects and reconnects a couple of wires. Sark watches Rachel work, concerned. She picks up a pair of scissors to cut a wire.

RACHEL: Okay.

SARK: Wait.

Rachel looks over at Sark.

SARK: If that’s the wrong wire -

RACHEL: I thought you liked risks.

SARK: I also like my body. As I recall, you do, too.

Rachel cuts the wire, but the timer continues to count down.

RACHEL: It’s still armed.

MARSHALL: That’s okay. It’s okay. Um. You just need to disable the compression generator. Look for a wire running to the microwave antenna.

RACHEL: Okay.

SARK: Don’t you want to get Dixon? No offense, but you haven’t had the best judgment lately.

RACHEL: Okay, I got it.

MARSHALL: Cut that. That should work.

SYDNEY: Should or will?

MARSHALL: Should.

Rachel gets ready to cut the wire. Sark closes his eyes.

RACHEL: Just so we’re clear –you approached me. You were the one that was stupid enough to let me into your room. And afterwards, you were the one that wanted to cuddle.

Rachel cuts the wire. The bomb shuts down.

RACHEL: It’s disarmed.

SYDNEY: That was spectacular, Rachel.

RACHEL: Thank you.

SYDNEY: (to Marshall) About what you just heard…

MARSHALL: Don’t need to know, don’t want to know.

Outside the compound, a medical team has bandaged Elizabeth’s hand.

JACK: I’ve spoken with the driver. There’s a plane waiting in Tunis. You’ll be in a London hospital by nightfall.

ELIZABETH: Wish Sydney well for me.

JACK: I’m sorry, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH: Don’t be.

Jack takes Elizabeth’s hand. Elizabeth holds his hand tightly for a moment before she is wheeled away into the ambulance. Inside, Dixon and Tom meet with Sark.

DIXON: About your payment…

SARK: You’d love to arrest me right now, wouldn’t you?

DIXON: Next time.

TOM: Give us the account number, we’ll wire you your fee.

SARK: Don’t bother. This one’s a freebie.

On the way out, Sark nods to Rachel, who seems pleased.

(INT. APO – DAY)

SYDNEY: (on the phone) You sure you don’t need anything? I could stop by on my way home.

JACK: I’m fine. I’m just… exhausted.

SYDNEY: That’s understandable.

JACK: Why don’t we meet for breakfast? I’ll come by and pick you up.

SYDNEY: That’d be great. Dad… if anything had happened, and I couldn’t have been there…

JACK: Sydney, you did exactly what I would have wanted. You and the baby are all that matters.

SYDNEY: I love you, Dad. Sleep well.

Sydney hangs up the phone just as Dixon walks into her office. She gets up and gives Dixon a hug. Meanwhile, Jack plays the piano alone in his house. Despite what he told Elizabeth, clearly, he still plays.